When I see the word technology training it gives me the
sense of dread because before this class I have never really trained in
technology. I have to train to know how to do something? Everyone needs to
learn new things about the upcoming technologies that are changing, as we know
it. The article we were given to read for this blog post talks about being
coaches for technology and I have never thought of myself as a coach. I want to
tell you about what I have observed when it comes to technology training and
what I hope to do when I become a coach myself.
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| Picture from Clip Art |
What I have
seen/experienced:
At the current middle school I am volunteering at I have
not seen any technology training occurring with the teachers and staff. It
could be the fact that I don’t come at the times that the media specialist puts
aside in her busy schedule to help teachers and staff with technology. I have
seen the media specialist help students when they are having trouble with
technology. The staff development for technology is being stunted because there
is not much physical proof of teachers and staff being helped in their
classrooms other than having smart boards and having access to the computer
labs in the school or media center. I hope to be able to see the use of
technology in the media center when I go in later this semester.
I have seen technology training in the previous high school
that I volunteered at that gave technology help to teachers and staff of the
school. The school media specialist conducted TED Talks in the media center
during the school day so that the teachers and staff could know how to work the
different technologies that the media center provided for them. I was never
able to attend one of her talks but I learned that they helped teachers and
staff with their classroom blogs, getting classroom materials, and engaged
their students in interesting ways.
This can be easier said then actually done. I will never
know how I will conduct my position as a media specialist until I truly have a
position in a schools media center. I will hope that I can inspire students to
want to come and use their media center for more than just a place they can
hang out with their friends and do the boring stuff for school assignments. Maybe in the next few years I will be in a media specialist position and be asked for help from a future media specialist-in-training. I hope that I will be able to say that I have contributed to my schools advancement in technology.
This makes me want to say, "Hear, Hear!!"
ReplyDeleteI too want to be able to say that I have contributed to my school's advancement in technology. At this point, all I know to do is listen to what the teachers are saying they need and try to fulfill those needs. I do my best to hear the projects they are working on, the data they need to compile and the time constraints they are under. After all this, I try to offer easy to use, short lessons on technologies I think will fit well for them. What are the results? Some love it. Some say they love it. Some don't love it and will never admit it if they did. But this doesn't keep me from trying. As media specialist we are support staff and must do whatever it is we can to support teachers in the huge task they have today in teaching our children. I try to approach people individually and tell them about an APP I recommend or I take 10 minutes of faculty meeting to show them. I sometimes ask if I can have their students for a 30 minute lesson and teach the children how to use a certain program or APP. Then the children take it back to class and use it. I am certainly going to use the Sceencastomatic to start a library of training videos. Thanks Dr. Cooper for getting us going on that.
In many cases, it might be as simple as helping teachers assign projects to be presented in various formats. Doing authentic research (saving articles on Diigo) and writing a word document is important but the presentation can be altogether different than the traditional paper. Moving beyond Power Point and showing Powtoon, Weebly etc can be an easy way for starting students on the path to familiarity with new software programs.
ReplyDeleteI often tell people that I've spent my teaching career being a copy cat. I look at what others are doing and I tweak it to make it fit for me. If I want to find an interesting way to teach something, my first stop is the internet. Pinterest has been a professional life saver for me. And a lot of the great technological ideas that I share with my colleagues and have even used for my media classes have come from following the Free Technology for Teachers page on facebook. The guy who runs the page does all of the work for you. You can just pick and choose what you think might interest your teachers most and share it with them.
ReplyDeleteI think you have the right idea in mind Maureen. I also think it is very wise of you to be realistic when it comes down to the amount of time you have and how you choose to spend it. The first a good media specialist must learn is time management and how to gage what is important and what can wait. This is my first year as a media specialist and I had to learn quickly how to prioritize the things that had to be done and the things that I could wait to take care of. What really helped me was my mission and goal for the school but most importantly for my media center. I took the things I wanted to incorporate (just as you are doing) and coupled them with what my principal said she needed in our school and quickly made my priority list. Technology was at the top of my list. Our school was coming out of an old school reform that didn’t require technology at all so the teachers needed a lot of support. A lot of the efficient teachers did research on their own and came up with a few sites they felt comfortable with and are using them. Our teams are really good with sharing new things with each other which really makes my job easier. I try to introduce the teacher to a new piece of technology at least once a month to be realistic.
ReplyDeleteI too never viewed myself as a technology coach as mentioned in the ISTE article. But in reality that’s exactly what I have to be. Most teachers need and appreciate continuous motivation and encouragement through coaching, especially when it comes to technology integration. The abundance of technology tools out there can be overwhelming and frustrating if not demonstrated or taught how to use. You had a great idea to start with the tools you were most familiar with. I have found in the few training's that I have done for my faculty that it is important to solicit help from other teachers that are familiar with the particular tool being demonstrated. That way more people are available to help with questions and sharing of the new tool. It is so difficult to demonstrate a technology tool and have the faculty try to go through the process as well on their devices. This is where the help form others that are familiar comes in. My goal next year is to really identify the tech tools that teachers are most familiar with and use their knowledge in redelivering some of these tools. Great job on your blog!
ReplyDeleteTechnology is a very important part of the school environment. With the fast changes coming to the education system we must make sure that we remain current with as much new information as possible. I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to discuss some of the aspects of the use of technology in the media center you have personally experienced. I especially liked the idea about using TED talks to resent the information. I will make sure I use this when I become a media specialist.
ReplyDeleteI'm not yet a practicing media specialist either, and I love the idea of becoming a "technology coach," but it is very overwhelming all of the different duties a LMS has! I think we can be proactive by staying current and studied in technology resources so that we can implement them in our libraries and help teachers implement them in their classrooms!
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